Cane-harvesting machine



June 12, 1928.

' R. s. FALKINER cm: HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5, 1926 between afixed hood and a series of pairs of- Patented June 12, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH SADLEIB FALKINER, OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.

CANE-HARVESTING MACHINE.

Application filed January 5, 1926, Serial No. 79,370, and in AustraliaJanuary 30, 1925.

This invention refers to cane harvesters, as for instance, the kinddescribed in specification Serial No.-'744,988, whereby briefly, thecane is out about the ground level, raised by an elevator and thrown bya pair of pneumatic rollers against a batlle or stop and pneumaticdischarge rollers, a pair of rotary cutters operating to sever the tops.

The invention consists of certain improvements relating to cane cuttingmeans, air blast means operating in conjunction with a travelling hoodto prevent loose or attached trash being gripped by the cane dischargerollers and a series of rollers for discharging the cut cane tops.

The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings whereof,

Figure 1, is an elevation of the cane harvester with the improvementsthereon.

Figure 2, is a fragmentary plan illustrating the cane severing means.

Figure 3, is a vertical section on line III of Figure 1,

Figure 4, is an enlarged detail of portion of the travelling hood.

By reference to Figures 1 and 2, of these drawings, it will be seen thata pair of oppositely rotating co-act-ing cutters 400 are em ployed tosever the cane about the ground level. These cutters are approximatelyrectangular but curved at the ends, with two diagonally opposite cornersrounded and cutting edges 401 formed at said rounded corners at thecurved ends and portions of said cutters.

Rotation of the cutters is forwardly and outwardly from the longitudinalcentre of the machine, i. e. towards the growing cane as indicated bythe arrows in Figure 2.

The cutters 400 are so set on vertical shafts 402 that one advances at90 to the other, i. e. one cutter operates one quarter of a revolutionahead of the co-acting cutter so that when one of the cutting edges 401of one cut- 'ter has operated through the cane a corresponding cuttingedge of the opposed cutter follows so that said cutters operatealternately.

The distance between thecenters of said vertical shafts is less than thediameter of the cutters, so that the swath cut by one cutter overlapsthat of the other.

The shafts 402 are driven by bevel gears 403, 404, 405, from a shaft 406driven by the engine E, employed to propel the machine.

It is found, with this form of cutter that the cane is successfully cutand breakage through stones choking the cutter is avoided asobstructions met are thrown to one side.

In lieu of known stationary hoods arranged over the pneumatic canedischarge rollers 197 and 198, a travelling hood is employed and sameconsists of slats 413, Figures l and 4, attached to a pair of endlessbelts 414 travelling over pulleys 415, 416 deriving motion from a belt417. r

The under portion of the hood travels in the same direction as the caneand as fast or faster than same so that if the ends of cane shotbackwards by the pneumatic throwing rollers 59 and 60 strike theunderside of the hood the canes are directed rearwardly against thebafile or stop B.

The slats 413 are preferably bevelled on one side as at 418, Figure 4,to prevent the butts of the cane fouling the hood when the tops of thecane strike the bafile or stop B.

Side cover boards 430 are provided above the cane discharge rollers 197,198 to confine the cane and also the air blasts provided to preventloose trash removed from the cane or still attached thereto being caughtbetween the discharge rollers 197, 198.

The blasts of air are delivered between the discharge rollers in anupward and rearward direction through the cane. The air is deliveredthrough outlets 421 extending upwardly as in Figure 1, preferably on theinner sides of the shafts 451 of thedischarge rollers 197 and 198, saidoutlets being connected with pipes 422, that may be rectangu- -lar incross section, leading from two blowers 423 driven by an engine E thatoperates the cane throwing rollers 59 and 60 and other parts of themachine.

The blasts of air cause the trash on the cane to be blown abovethedischarge rollers into contact with the rearwardly moving slats 413 ofthe travelling hood which assists in conveying the loose trash out ofthe machine at the rear.

In addition to the pneumatic discharge rollers two pairs of rotarypneumatic rollers 420 or rollers the outer coating of which is formed offlexible material are mounted on the shafts 451 in a similar manner torollers 197, 198 and located behind the topping discs 452 mounted alsoupon said shafts 451, said rollers 420 being employed to discharge thecane tops in a downward direction.

These rollers 420 may have a solid rubber outer coating or a thick outercoating formed of sponge rubber.

I claim:

1. In cane harvesters, a pair of horizontal coacting cane cutters ofapproximately rectangular shape mounted on oppositely rotating verticalshafts, said cutter rotating forwardly and outwardly and operatingalternately with one performing an effective cut a quarter of arevolution in advance of and overlapping the cut of the other.

2. In cane harvesters wherein the cane travels longitudinally thereof,the combination with a series of pairs of downwardly operating canedischarge rollers of a superposed endless travelling hood and means tocause said hood to effectively operate while travelling in the samedirection as the cane.

3. In cane harvesters wherein the cane travels longitudnally thereof,the combination with a series of pairs of downwardly operating canedischarge rollers of a superposed travellin hood consisting of beltspassing over pulleys and provided with slats, means to cause said hoodto travel so that said slats when on the underside travel in the samedirection as the thrown cane and at the same speed or faster.

4. In cane harvesters wherein the cane travels longitudinally thereof,the combination with a series of pairs of downwardly operating canedischarge rollers of a super- 4 posed travelling hood consisting ofbelts passing over pulleys and provided with slats bevelled on one side,said hood travelling in the same direction as the thrown cane.

5. In cane harvesters, the combination with rollers for throwing'and fordischarging the cut cane, of means to impart air blasts throu h the cutcane in an upward and rearwar direction.

6. In cane harvesters, the combination with rollers for throwing and fordischarging the cut cane, of means to impart air blasts through the cutcame in an upward and rearward direction comprising blowers with pipeshaving outlet-s located between the discharging rollers.

7. In cane harvesters, the combination with discharge rollers andtoppingdiscs of pairs of co-acting discharge rollers for the cut topslocated at the rear of said discs,

8. In cane harvesters, the combination with discharge rollers andtopping discs of pairs of co-acting discharge rollers for the cut topslocated at the rear of said discs, said tops discharge rollers beingpneumatic or formed with an outer coating of resilient material.

9. In cane harvesters, the combination with a series of cane throwingand cane discharge rollers and a stop or baiiie of a travelling hoodabove said discharge rollers, side cover boards above said rollers andmeans for delivering air blasts in an upward and rearward directionthrough the cut cane.

Dated this seventeenth day of November, 1925.

R. S. FALKI'NER.

